Since coming to the Lycoming College campus in 1989, Mike Clark has left an impressive footprint.
In four years as an offensive lineman on the football team under legendary Coach Frank Girardi, he won four MAC titles and helped the team advance to the 1990 NCAA Division III National Championship game.
After graduating in 1993, he began his football coaching career and when it led him back to Williamsport in 1998, the success didn’t stop. In two years as an offensive line coach for Girardi, he helped win two more MAC titles before moving on to become the offensive coordinator at Division I Davidson College.
So when the college looked for a replacement for Girardi after his retirement in 2007, it was hard to find someone with a better resume than Clark, who had won six titles in as many years at Lycoming.
Sure enough, in his first year as head coach in 2008, Clark led a Cinderalla-story resurgence in the Warriors, helping the team win its first MAC title in five years, the longest between titles since 1978, when Girardi won the school’s first title.
Now entering his 18th year as head coach, Clark has been a part of 148 wins, eight conference titles, seven NCAA tournament teams, 10 postseason-bound teams and six NCAA playoff wins as a Warrior. During his time as head coach, Clark has tutored 144 all-conference selections, 65 Hampshire Honor Society members, 25 all-region selections, 22 Academic All-District selections, seven All-Americans, four Academic All-Americans, a Regional Player of the Year, a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner and led the team to seven wins over top-25 programs.
In January 2012, he also was named the College's ninth director of athletics. Since coming on board, he has helped hire 25 new head coaches. He was critical in driving initiatives that promoted all full-time coaches in the department to 12-month positions. The department has added 10 new full-time positions (head softball, field hockey, baseball, men's volleyball and strength & conditioning coaches, three assistant coaches and two additional athletic trainers) and greatly invested in part-time assistant coaches during his tenure. Significant improvements including new scoreboards and artificial turf replacement have occurred at the Shangraw Athletic Complex and he helped guide the department through two identity updates.
In 2020, he helped announce the reintroduction of field hockey and baseball to Lycoming's athletic offerings and he oversaw construction of Keiper Stadium at UPMC Field. The construction of Brandon Park Baseball Field was completed in 2024, giving the baseball team a permanent home field.
In Lycoming's first year in the Landmark Conference in 2022, Clark helped the team recover from a 0-5 start by winning four of the team's last five games to finish tied for second in the conference and earn a trip to the first Cape Charles Bowl, where the Warriors upset Washington & Lee, 20-17. The Warriors featured 17 all-conference picks, three Academic All-District selections and an all-region selection.
The Warriors became the first MAC team to win a MAC-Centennial Bowl Series game in four years when it beat Ursinus, 31-23, to wrap up an 8-3 campaign in 2020. The team finished second in the MAC and featured nine All-MAC performers and three all-region selections.
In 2018, Clark helped lead the team to a 5-5 regular season, which included a 21-14 win over Misericordia, which was battling for a share of the MAC title, in the last week of the season. Seven Warriors were named all-conference and the team advanced to the MAC-Centennial Bowl Series for the first time. In 2017, Sam Dressler became the first NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner in the football program's history.
In 2014, the Warriors started the season with four straight wins to reach as high as 20th in the national polls en route to an 8-2 season and a third-place finish in the MAC with a 6-2 mark, with both defeats coming at the hands of nationally-ranked opponents. The team's offense racked up a school-record 415.0 yards of total offense per game.
The 2013 Warriors were able to sustain a rollercoaster ride throughout the season and still capture a share of the program's 15th MAC title, posting a 7-3 record and a 7-2 mark in league play. The team started the year with a 4-1 mark, which included wins over 24th-ranked Widener and 16th-ranked Delaware Valley. Accolades rolled in for the team after the year, as 13 players were named all-conference, three all-region and Tanner Troutman, who led the nation in interceptions, was named the D3football.com East Region Player of the Year.
In 2012, the Warriors posted their second straight 8-2 season, finishing 8-1 in the MAC to finish in second place in the MAC. Once again, the Warriors featured one of the best defenses in the conference and the nation, finishing fourth in the country in scoring defense (12.4) and 14th in rushing defense (87.8). The 2011 Warriors finished with an 8-2 mark and a 5-2 mark to finish in a tie for second in the MAC. Along with defeating No. 22 Rowan, 8-6, in the opener, the team developed into one of the best defensive units in the nation, finishing second in pass efficiency defense (77.59), third in total defense (214.40), third in turnover margin (+1.80), seventh in scoring defense (12.60), seventh in pass defense (120.21) and eighth in rushing defense (84.40), while leading the conference in all six categories.
In 2008, Clark helped turn around a Warriors program that had won just seven games in the two years prior by helping the team win six of its first eight games. By the final week of the regular-season, the Warriors held their destiny in their own hands, and the team dismissed Lebanon Valley, 23-15, to claim a piece of the MAC title with Delaware Valley and Albright. Lycoming claimed the tiebreaker due to wins over both teams to earn a bid to the NCAA playoffs, helping Clark secure MAC Coach of the Year and D3football.com East Region Coach of the Year honors.
Before Clark’s third go-round at Lycoming, he spent eight seasons as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Davidson. During his years with the Wildcats, Clark helped the team post a 43-36 (.544) record and the only undefeated season in school history.
Along the way, the Wildcats had some of the most prolific offensive numbers in school history, with Clark mentoring the top two passing quarterbacks, three receivers and running back during his time. In his last two years, Clark’s offense hit its stride, with the 2006 team scoring 29.5 points per game, which was 15th in the Championship Bowl Subdivision. In 2007, the offense average 414.3 yards per game, setting a school record.
In 1998 and 1999, Clark served as an assistant under Girardi, helping the Warriors finish off a run of four straight MAC titles before leaving for Davidson.
Clark spent the 1996 and 1997 seasons as an assistant at Princeton, serving as the tight ends coach in 1996 and the running backs coach in 1997. He began his coaching career in 1994 as a graduate assistant tight ends coach at Rowan University. In two years with the Profs, Clark helped the team post a 16-6-1 record and take a trip to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in 1995.
At Lycoming, Clark spent four years as an offensive lineman during one of the most prolific periods in school history. From 1989-92, the Warriors posted a 40-5-1 (.880) record and a 30-1-1 (.953) record against MAC teams.
Clark earned his Bachelor of Arts in business administration from Lycoming in 1993. He earned a Master of Business Administration from Rowan in 1996.
Clark and his wife, Danielle, have three children, Allison, a graduate of Duquesne University, Brendan, a junior tight end on the football team at Lycoming, and Emily, who is entering her first year at St. Joseph's University. They reside in Montoursville.
